WHAT: 1996 Olympic Gold Medalist, Kerri Strug made international headlines during her astonishing victory on the vault during the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta and returns this month as the March of Dimes (MOD) newest champion for babies. Strug, a recent inductee in the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame, will join ambassadors of the MOD National Youth Leadership Conference on a special mission to deliver a message of hope and bundles of new baby clothes to families at the Special Care Nursery at Atlanta Medical Center – a place where everyday miracles unfold and many of the tiniest, most fragile babies thrive and survive.

WHEN:  July 31, 2008, 2-2:30 p.m.

WHERE:  Atlanta Medical Center | 303 Parkway Drive NE | Atlanta, GA  30312
   Boulevard Lobby
  
WHY: High school and college volunteers at the MOD National Youth Leadership Conference have collected baby clothes as the conference’s community service project rooted in the spirit of giving and a goal to shape a new generation of advocates for babies.  Atlanta Medical Center is the only hospital in Atlanta with a March of Dimes NICU Family Support Program – a critical resource for families providing information and comfort during hospitalization of a newborn, their transition to home and in the unfortunate death of a newborn.
 

VISUALS:   Tours of the NICU (with special advance permission); Interview opportunities with Kerri Strug, MOD youth ambassadors, Atlanta Medical Center NICU Family Support Program representatives.

CONTACTS:  Tracie Grant  Kendra Gerlach
 March of Dimes  Atlanta Medical Center
 404-350-9800 ext. 204  xxx-xxxx
 TGrant@marchofdimes.com  xxxxxxxxxxx